For the Sake of Animals
by Peace Ocean
Summary: AU Writer and journalist Aviva's curiousity drives her out of the city limits in search of animals, that though a scant few are endangered, are rarely seen by people kept locked inside of huge cities on their supercontinent world. A landslide sends her and her guides towards one of the greatest treasures she could have imagined. PS. Worry not reader the Kratts exist in this world!
1. Welcome to our world

Gray buildings covered the land almost as far as the eye could see, the glass reflecting the sunlight up and shining like the rarely seen oceans at sunset. In the tallest one, a thin man stared out at the landscape, his eyes landing on the tiny visible strip of the forest that surrounded the large city.

Forbidden as well, except to the tourist that could pay enough and explorers with the necessary clearance. The man stared at it, feeling the expected mistrust yet feeling a pull towards it.

He had never really understood his cousins' fascination with the areas outside the fences, the ones where airplanes never landed and cars rarely traveled. They had always talked about the animals, but all he could imagine living out there were mangy, under fed dogs and cats. Never the beautiful ink engravings from before the regulations and dividing of the land, of exotic animals that they had called "bears", "lynxes" and other odd names he couldn't remember.

He remembered their funeral. They had been in an accident and of the family of six only the two sisters, having been asleep, survived. He had made sure they got the best of medical care and neither of them carried a single physical scar from the experience.

It had reopened wounds in him that had long scarred over and memories of both them and his own family, all but gone now, had flown out, and how hard it was not to cry.

But as owner of Varmitech Enterprises he had to present a calm, composed face.

He turned now from the glass, the sound of his intercom beeping awakening him from his temporary stupor. He quickly pressed the button.

"Yes, Amelia?"

"_That obnoxious Hispanic girl is here again."_

He thought he could hear the beginning of a protest from the writer whom Amelia was referring to, and he glared at the intercom as though she could see through it.

"I'd think you two would get along, being so much alike."

Laughter filtered through the intercom as the young woman answered, _"You're mean, you know that? Can I send her in?"_

"Yeah, whatever."

The huge double doors leading to his office slowly seeped open, and a red-faced woman walked through.

"I swear that secretary of yours is one of the most annoying people I have ever met!"

"You say that every time," Zach sat behind his desk, pulling up a stack of papers, "But she's the only one I can find that writes stuff in a language I can understand."

"You mean that types up a summary in kindergarten English." the dark skinned woman walked forward, and Zach admired the way she did, seeming to be full of energy and in such a hurry. That might be due to the four inch yellow heels she was wearing. His eyes slowly moved upwards, and watched as her light blue pencil skirt and matching jacket moved with her graceful movements and highlighted her slender legs, shapely hips and narrow shoulders. Her hair was loose, encasing her wide face and her thin lips pouted slightly as her olive green eyes traveled around the room.

"I don't have all day Miss Corcovado, what do you need?"

"A permit," she sat in the guest chair, adjusting the papers in her hands.

"What for?" he frowned, slightly annoyed with being interrupted, and continued reading through the reports on the oil companies he was investing in.

The woman sighed, looking out the window. A pause filled the room. He looked up, his pastel green eyes locking with her olive ones as she turned back, a new determination solidifying in them.

"To explore the jungles."

The papers in his hands dropped to the floor.

"You know that-"

"Oh, come on! Your company claims to be eco-friendly, that it makes donations to the governments to keep people out of the forests and in the city and funds the parks where we can travel, yet you know nothing of what that stands for."

"I do it for PR! Not to risk my best writer," he glared at her. She groaned.

Aviva was their best on the ground journalist, and had used her esteem from the magazines Varmitech Enterprises produced to publish several of her own books, one of them being fiction about a world where animals and people lived together in harmony instead of separated by fences and laws. He hadn't even lifted the front cover, not really caring about "animals". What good were they? Besides, the law kept them from going out and learning more about them for a reason.

"It will help PR, if I publish an article about it..." she trailed off, looking out the glass that surrounded his office. He looked out as well, seeing the buildings again. The forest far off. He knew he didn't see it the same way Miss Corcovado did, and he knew he never would. Their mindsets were too different. She had been raised to grow and expand outside of what she knew, to have an insatiable curiosity. He had been raised to count, build industries and run the enterprise his great grandfather had started. Nothing else. He didn't have time or space to think outside of his mindset, yet Aviva had an adventurous spirit that wouldn't let anything limit her.

Like his cousins.

He also knew that if he didn't fund her, she'd find another way to get what she wanted. And that would include going to other people.

He didn't want-well, couldn't afford to lose her. She was extremely valuable in her department, and even _he _knew that it would fall apart without her.

With a grunting sigh, he turned on his laptop.

"What do you need?"

She smiled appreciatively, before laying her papers out on his desk.

"Well..."

Koki stood outside the visitor center for the park outside of the city, spinning a globe in her hands. The land mass on it spread over almost all the globe, only having small scattered spots of blue in most places and a large, deep and dark looking pool on one side. This was the super continent that made up their world. Land connected almost everything and one could almost always travel from one side of the globe to the other without having to fly over an ocean, if they wanted to. Of course, it was always easier to fly, especially since most of the area between the cities was closed to all humans.

Her dark fingers found the spots where cities were. There weren't any rural areas anymore. Just cities scattered across the large world, with people living squished together in compacted areas. In total there were only about twenty thousand cities, housing the world's population of 5 billion, which most government officials were saying needed to go down again.

Koki shuddered, remembering the last time the world was depopulated. All in the name of the environment. Diseases had spread through the cities, easily decimating the populations living so close together. Diseases that left one shaking when they survived, having had to bury nine for each one that survived. The government never admitted to anything and put out vaccines, giving healthcare that mostly didn't work because it was stretched so far. But around their huge world, almost two billion people died. Almost.

She remembered only a little of it, having been around four when it happened, but she knew it left her an orphan, caring for a stranger's baby in a foster home. Jimmy, the baby, had grown with her and they eventually had gone into forestry, a rarely studied field anymore, and had eventually both gotten places in their nearby park, giving tours and leading the few explorers that came through the tough environment.

"Hey, Koki!" She turned to find her blonde companion, Laura, walking towards her. Her friend's blonde ponytail swung, catching the rays of sunlight, reflecting them in golden hues, "What are you doing?"

The black woman shrugged, her khaki ranger uniform shifting slightly as she readjusted it, "Just waiting for the next batch of people."

Laura smiled, and nodded in understanding, tugging her form fitting light blue shirt into place and readjusting the knot of her long sleeved khaki ranger shirt hanging from her waist.

"You seen Misty anywhere?"

"I think she was in the back testing out the new technology that arrived."

"Ooh, those suit things? What were they called?"

"Creature...something or other suits."

Laura snapped her fingers, "Power! Creature Power Suits!"

Koki nodded, her Afro bobbing with her head.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to go check them out too."

"Be my guest. I'm not getting into any sort of "experimental technology" thing," Koki placed the globe on the half wall next to her as Laura ran off.

She didn't quite expect the sound of energy powering up, or the flashes of light blue and pink coming from behind the building. Nor the pink and blue human sized peregrine falcons flying haphazardly just above her.

"I'm guessing they worked?" she called up to them.

They circled down, landing in front of her. Misty smiled gently, excitement pouring out of her like her loose waist length brown hair that poked out from behind her suit and flowed gently down her back, contrasting the vibrant pink of the suit while Laura whooped.

"That was so exciting!" her blue eyes practically glowed as she stretched out her wings. Koki hummed slightly in agreement.

"Just don't let the government officials find that stuff here. You know how strict they are," she crossed her arms, mentally admiring whoever invented these things.

They just laughed, Misty's gentle nature coming through her soft laugh, while Laura's playful, out going laugh rang through the center, causing Jimmy to poke his head out of the building.

"What's up girls? Who-hoa! What are those?!"

"Creature Power Suits!"

"Who made them? They're really bad-ass."

"Jimmy!" Koki scolded.

Laura shrugged, "We don't know. The person keeps himself anonymous."

A beeping from the gates warned them of incoming people, and the test subjects of the suits quickly turned the suits off, pulling the respective vests and gloves off as they ran off to the back to quickly hide them as Koki and Jimmy Z greeted the suburban car's drivers.

Aviva knocked gently on the pink door, glaring lightly at the camera above it.

"Not now, I'm extremely busy," a voice sang out, mature yet playful. Aviva opened the door.

"If I waited until you weren't I'd never see you," she shot back, closing the door behind her. A vast room opened in front of her and manikins with half finished dresses and shawls and blouses were scattered across it. Beautiful flowing dresses were drawn on the papers pinned up on the walls, yet many of them were crossed out.

The voice sighed, and it's tanned owner emerged from a large drawing desk, her yellow eyes locking in on the intruder.

"What is it now?" a pencil skirt hugged the sharp, square hips, and a loose white blouse accented the shapely long neck of the middle aged woman, whose thick ruddy brown hair was cut short in the modern fashion for a woman her age.

"I got the permit."

"For what?"

"To explore the forest," Aviva pointed simply to the window, indicating outside the city. The woman stared for a moment.

"Why on Earth would you do that?"

Aviva sighed, "Miss Donata, remember my book? The fiction one?"

Donita sighed and sat elegantly on her desk, her long thin legs crossed straight in front of her.

"The one that came out during my "Aurora: Sun essence" line?"

The Hispanic woman nodded curtly.

"Yes, I do recall that. _Chronicles of Animalia,_ am I right?"

She nodded again.

"So?"

"I want to actually be able to experience something like that, Donita. I don't want it to just be fantasy anymore!"

Donita shook her head, standing up and walking over to the young woman, clicking her tongue.

"Why animals? Why not people?"

"I'm...I'm tired of people. We're too complex...I'd like something simple for once."

Donita kept a steady gaze with her for a moment, then looked away.

"Hm..."

Aviva frowned slightly, "'Hm' what?"

"Maybe...Maybe you and your "animals" might be the inspiration I've been looking for," the fashion designer smirked, "And, use green more."

Donita winked as she walked Aviva out.

"It'll bring out your eyes more."


	2. Troubles and Rain

**Well, we started listening to music as we write(thanks to a suggestion from Fire Ninja, formerly Pink Wildfire/Dazzling Silver Mist) so, it's optional to listen to the music, but it's not nessecary. If anything, it's easier to read without music, BUT we'll list the music we listened to!**

**Aviva drives home: While the City Sleeps, by Paul Collier**

**Meet Allison: Behold, I send you as sheep among the wolves, Paul Collier**

**Plus some nice natural rain music by the clouds over head! **

* * *

Aviva frowned when she drove home that night, noticing a large black cloud building up over head, lit up from behind by the shining half-moon. She just hoped she could get home before the storm started up. It was dangerous to drive in the parking lots built around the apartment buildings in the rain, especially for her since she had a top floor house.

She bit her lip as the rain began to patter down softly, slowly building as she drove higher and higher until she reached her parking spot. She paused before turning the black car off, sighing. She never did like the rain.

By then the rain was coming down in torrents and she slipped her high heels off to make a mad dash for her door, getting soaked as she fought for her keys.

She grunted as they fell on the floor, the water rushing down the sidewalk engulfing them. She grabbed them before they were dragged away and managed to open her door and slammed it shut behind her as she rushed in her house. She sighed in relief to be inside, and sent a wary glance to her hair, knowing it was already beginning to curl into it's little winds and bends. She sighed, throwing her shoes into the nearby closet and pulled her jacket off.

What she needed now was a nice hot shower, she told herself as she walked into the bathroom, tiredly dumping her clothes into the hamper and slipping into the shower. Aviva hummed in relief as the hot water ran down her body, warming her, soothing her aches. This was one thing that she could allow herself to indulge in without guilt. She turned, letting her already soaked hair get the warming bath, and dumped a handful of shampoo on her hair – biodegradable of course, and worked it into her curly hair.

It wasn't that she had bad hair. She actually had nice curls, that formed cute ringlets at the ends; not even all her hair had curl. She simply preferred to have straight hair with a slight wave in it.

The shampoo, now washed out, was replaced by several liberal handfuls of conditioner, making her hair soft, silky, and mostly straight. After rinsing that out, she reluctantly turned the water off and stepped out, wrapping a large white towel around herself and wrapping her hair up in another. She walked into her bedroom, collapsing on her large bed. A large, plush comforter draped elegantly over the top as the neatly arranged pillows sat on the head of the bed, sitting primly like well groomed school girls.

She stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, thinking over the day.

A part of her couldn't believe that she had actually gotten the funding. Or that Donita had wanted to come along, volunteering her chief photographer, Dabio – That was his only name, they maintained - to be her photographer, free of charge.

Frankly, Aviva wondered how the huge man could find the brain cells to run the equipment...Not to judge...

With a yawn, she curled up, one hand under her head and her legs crossed over themselves, slipping into a restless sleep.

It seemed that she hadn't more than drifted away and her alarm was beeping. She moaned, and sat up, running a hand through her still slightly moist hair, as she turned to the screeching purple alarm.

_8:27_

She jumped out of bed, practically flying into her bathroom to frantically brush her hair into place and get dressed.

"I'm late!"

Aviva ran back out, slipping on a purple jacket over her white blouse, her legs flying forward in gray business pants, her hair put up in a messy bun. She grabbed her keys on the way out, almost forgetting her shoes in her mad dash to get out.

* * *

Amelia rubbed her dark brown eyes tiredly as she skimmed through another report, typing up a "summary", as Aviva had put it, with her other hand.

It wasn't exactly her first choice to become a secretary, but it payed well. And she never really expected to become the secretary for one of the world's leading enterprises, or to work for one of the richest men alive, but hey, there she was.

She sighed, placing the papers down and burying her face in her hands, her heavy, chocolate brown bun bobbing with the movement.

"Amelia!"

Her head jerked up, and she stared at Zach as he walked up to her.

"Crazy guy makes me stay up all night doing something as simple as researching jungles," she mumbled to herself, earning herself a glare from her boss.

"Yes, sir?"

"Where's the research I asked you to do?"

She pulled a stack of papers out from a drawer in her huge, mahogany desk, placing them in his hands.

"There, and you're welcome."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks and whatever," he sauntered into his office, while she yawned. Suddenly her intercom beeped, and she groaned.

"Yeah?"

"_Aviva hasn't shown up for the meeting yet!"_

Amelia sighed, recognizing the voice as Allison, Aviva's younger sister, who had joined her sister's department last year.

"And you call me why?"

"_You're the only other person who has a copy of the reports!"_

"Oh, you've got to be-" she sighed, shaking her head, "Fine, I'll send someone down with it, 'kay?"

"_Ay, gracias, mi amiga!"_

"De nada, y no te conozco, asi que no eres mi amiga, pero alla tu," she grumpily shoved the gray intercom slightly, pushing a button or two accidentally, "Aviva had better have a better excuse than she slept in or got stuck in traffic..."

* * *

Aviva sunk in her chair slightly, shamed that she had missed another meeting. At least she'd be gone in a day or two, doing her own thing for a while before coming back to all this hustle and bustle.

Allison knocked on the glass door to her office, causing the young woman to sit up straight.

"Come in."

Her sister walked in, her short colorful dress hugging her shapely torso, and flaring around her long, slender legs. A teasing smile lifted the pink lips as she twirled a curl of her bangs, a common habit of hers. Her green eyes, the only trait she shared in common with her older sister, twinkled as she shook her head, causing her hair, curly and black, coating her shoulders and cascading down her back, to bounce.

"Ay, ay, ay, Hermana."

"I know, I know," Aviva sighed, resting her cheek resignedly on her hand, "Who took my place?"

"Guess.," Allison smirked confidently, yet playfully.

"You've been taking my place a lot lately," Aviva noted, not a little sadly.

"Aw, sis," her sister sat on the desk, "I could never truly take your place."

She thrust her arms in the air, causing the colorful bracelets on her wrists to rattle and chime, "You're practically legend here!"

Aviva shook her head, poking her sister playfully, causing her to laugh in response.

"Anyway, just don't miss the next one, that secretary of Robo-Boss up there is getting angry," Allison crossed her legs delicately, grinning widely as she used the nickname that a grand majority of the Varmitech employes used in reference to their boss, referring to his huge robotics department, which was really his main pillar. It also alluded to the rumor circulating about his bodyguards being the robots that he manufactured for security purposes. Supposedly some of them could "shape-shift" into human forms.

Aviva rolled her eyes when the secretary was brought up, pulling out her mirror to check her make up real quick. Something about the young woman just didn't sit right with her.

"Well, I won't be around next week..."

Her sister's smile fell, and she gave her a questioning look, "Where are you going?"

Aviva grinned this time, standing up and with one swift yank, sent the curtain gliding shut over the glass walls, and grabbed a small remote. With a click, her glass windows looking down from the fifth floor were covered by silver colored blindfolds, and she proudly pushed a button on her intercom. Suddenly, the walls lit up with three dimensional images of trees, as though they had suddenly been transported outside the fences, outside the walls.

Allison stared, "Wow...so this is what you do in your free time, huh?"

Aviva grinned, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear, her mind turning to a particular set of vests and gloves, "Among other things..."

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Allison turned to her, glaring in an accusatory way, "You're going out to the boonies?"

Aviva blinked at the slang, "The what?"

Allison groaned, letting her head fall into her hands, "No, no, no...What are Mama and Papa going to say?"

The older woman rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"And what about your work?"

"Robo-Boss got that taken care of..."

Allison's head jerked up, causing the curly black hair to bounce and tumble around, finding their places among themselves, shock covering her face.

"You went up? To him? For-"

"I wouldn't have gone any other way!" Aviva huffed, crossing her arms. Oh, how she hated whenever they fought, which was happening more often than she'd like, "Look, I really, really want to do this."

Allison scoffed.

"You knows what diseases you could pick up out there. Or, what about the farming complexes. You know how desperate those men-I mean people get! They could kidnap you and hold you for ransom."

"Oh, please, I have the trip all planned. I'll have two experienced guides the whole way..."

Her thoughts turned towards the farming complexes, as they were officially called. Street slang for them was Blood Farms, since it was rumored that any people trying to escape were killed on the spot.

She didn't quite believe that, although a journalist for the newspaper that was also under her department had gone out to one to write a story and had come back without a single word written down.

Because, he said, his voice uncharacteristically soft and subdued, no one would want to know. What was the point, if everyone would turn a blind eye? No one cared about the everyday deaths of far away people.

After a week, he was back to normal, the same joking laughing person as before, but she couldn't help but wonder what he had meant.

Farming complexes were established places outside of the cities, where a group of "farmers" would grow the food and meat and fish for the nearby cities. Mass production often meant that the land that was allowed to them was farmed until it was barren, then the manure of the animals raised would be spread across the land, in half baked attempts to repair the damage down. Trees were planted and everyone was evacuated into a new area. From the little bit of information she had milked out of the journalist, they cycled around every decade, moving into an area that had been farmed two decades before, and slash and burn techniques were used on the half grown trees there and another cycle of intensive farming started.

Blinking, she realized she had missed everything of what Allison had said.

"Sis, just don't worry, okay? I'll be back in three weeks-"

"Three weeks!" Allison huffed, "And who's running the department, may I ask?"

"You, I guess..."

Allison muttered something to herself, although Aviva saw her eyes light up slightly.

"Have you seen Manny recently?" Allison changed the subject, blinking her olive eyes.

"Um...no," Aviva confessed, pushing the button again, causing the walls to go back to their plain gray colors. The blinds slowly opened and she frowned, "I haven't seen Manuel...well, any of our brothers lately."

Allison shook her head, "Did you hear what happened to Jose?"

"No, what happened?"

"His wife died."

Aviva stared for a few seconds, "...The black girl? That Mama didn't like?"

"No, that's Manny's wife," Allison sighed, "You don't even know who your sister-in-laws are!"

"Let's _not_ talk about _that_," Aviva forced out, glaring at Allison. Funny how fast a fun talk with her quickly turned into an argument.

"Wouldn't have brought it up, si tu hubieras estado en mejor contacto con tu familia..." the younger woman muttered, before sighing and talking a little louder, "She was in a car crash day before yesterday, taking their daughter to school. The front part of the car was completely crushed."

"Oh, poor Chloe!" Aviva shook her head. Too many people died because of car accidents in the cities, "What about their girl?"

"She's fine, but shaken up. Anyone would be after seeing their mom die like that..."

Aviva nodded silently.

"Chelsea, right?"

"Yup," Allison nodded somberly. A knock sounded on the glass walls and Aviva opened the curtains.

"And so ends our talk," muttered the unhappy younger sister as she walked out.

* * *

Koki bit her lip, looking out at the dirt road. The rain last night would make it a little more precarious to drive on, as soil drenched in water often gave way under the road. Above her, Laura quietly glided on an air current, wearing the suit that they had brought in yesterday.

What a way to wake up, she thought, remembering the gallons of water (or so it had seemed, just waking up) that had poured down onto her and her bed that morning, through a broken tarp hanging over the broken roof.

Laura had volunteered to check out the scope of the road, to see how bad it was to go on it. Koki thought it was just another excuse to use the brightly colored suits and goof off in the air. Not that Laura goofed off much...

"Did you know that peregrine falcons have some of the best long range eyesight in the animal kingdom?" Misty walked up behind her, pulling her suit over her head.

"Nope. I've only been told five times in the last two days," Koki smiled gently to show she was only teasing, although it was partly true. The girls had gotten all excited about the suits and all the possibilities it opened up, and had begun spouting animal information this way and that. Not that she minded much.

"Um...Have you seen that feather we used yesterday?"

"What feather?"

"The one to activate the suits...You can only activate them if they have a DNA sample to build off of, apparently."

Koki shook her head, wondering if she had seen wrong when Kitty – Laura's nickname – had walked out empty handed and activated the suit with a laugh in front of her.

"Oh, okay. I guess I'll see if I can find Surveillance," Misty turned, smiling as her brown hair bounced with her every step. Surveillance was a peregrine falcon that they had found just outside the Fence, apparently having flown into the nearby barbed wire. After nursing him back to health, he hung around the building, bringing his mate over to nest on their building, and exhibiting the odd habit of going out and flying around the center, every single hour, therefore his name, Surveillance.

Jimmy ran out, holding the joy stick for his video game close to him and looking slightly disturbed, "That family's kid wants my controller!"

Koki rolled her eyes, ignoring his problem, "Think we should still take them out on that tour?"

Jimmy hid his controller in his pocket, looking out at the road with a shrewd look. Koki looked at it as well, and wondered, for an instant, what it would look like to an outsider. The road was set on a gentle slope, which, if you went on the upper road at the first Y, would get steeper and steeper as you went on. The lower road continued on a gentle, curving downward slope, heading towards the very bottom of the valley of what was formerly the Adirondack State Park. Tall, slender trees allowed a little of the bright, direct sunlight to filter down and a breeze slowly filtered through the trees, slowed by the thick canopies of leaves from the different trees of the temperate forest. Beautiful conifers fought their way up through the long, thick branches of their broad leaf neighbors, creating a mingled united forest standing guard outside the city limits. Koki loved it, the smells of the slowly decomposing leaves and the fresh water that constantly flowed though out the entire park, much smaller than it's predecessor. Canadian lynxes, moose and American martens lived here, among much other fauna.

If one followed the upper road, it would lead to the mountain range, and to the alpine tundras, where the air was incredibly thin from its high elevation, and plants grew small and close to the ground.

"I, uh, well...Er...Ah..." Jimmy's hands clenched around the controller and Koki listened patiently to his mumbling. She wasn't exactly sure why, but Jimmy often had trouble having responsibility of any sort placed on him. Not that he couldn't do what he was asked to, but he got incredibly nervous and slightly high strung.

"M...Maybe we could?"

"I think you can!" Laura swooped down, landing in front of them. Jimmy yelped at her sudden appearance and ducked behind Koki, dropping his hat on the ground.

Laura laughed, "Sorry, JZ, didn't mean to scare you!"

Jimmy stood up straight, puffing out his chest self-consciously and putting on his baseball cap backwards, "Oh, uh...You didn't scare me! I was just, uh...Practicing escape tactics!"

He jumped into a karate like pose, wobbling as he stood on one leg. Koki, grinning playfully, poked his shoulder.

"AHH!" he jumped and collapsed on the ground, his skinny legs sticking up in the air, "Hey, no fair!"

* * *

**Don't own Wild Kratts, gratefully. If we did, the series would never have been aired, lol! Hope you enjoyed, please tell us what you think!**


	3. Going outSeafaring, Tree climbing

**Hi everyone! ^^ Gonna skip the usual RP format and go straightforward today. Little announcement: This is probably the longest chapter we ever posted! Ever! 4,637 words, just 371 words shy of the previous two chapters of this story combined. One more page, lol.**

**Soundtrack: But today there's blue skies, Paul Collier(you can find these on youtube, if you're interested) First Part. While the City Sleeps, Paul Collier, Wake up. The Bioluminescence of the Night, James Horner, The Men far away.**

**(Yes, we labeled the different parts of the chapter. -.-' Some trouble it was.)**

* * *

_The view of her wavy and shiny dyed blonde hair covering her slim, narrow shoulders, was obstructed slightly by the translucent white veil that gently flowed down from the simple clip on top of her head, adorned with fresh Snow White flowers. A couple of bright light-green leaves still clung to the fragile stems, and the bridesmaid's gaze moved down to the dress, and the long sleeves made out of the same material as the veil. The dress modestly cupped and covered the woman's chest, and her delicate skirt flowed downwards in gentle, airy folds, the material light and breezy, fit for a woodland fairy, it seemed. The woman looked at the bridesmaid and her sister, a beaming smile spreading across her face. She glowed, her love for her fiance pouring over to envelope his sisters and niece; her bridesmaids._

_"I only have Daddy left of my family," she had explained with a soft laugh; long ago, it seemed, "And my only friend lives on the other side of the city. So I thought, who better to be my bridesmaids than my future sister-in-laws? Oh, and niece, of course."_

_Now, she sighed in absolute bliss as her father came in the room, smiling at her with a proud and joyful, yet saddened grin. She hugged him._

_"It's time, Chloe."_

_"I know. I love you, Daddy. Thank you for everything," she kissed his cheek, and he seemed to be somewhat happier at that. She turned to the bridesmaids, "Are we ready?"_

No, _the bridesmaid had thought, _I don't feel ready yet.

_But her sister answered with an excited smile, "Yeah, we sure are!"_

_Her niece giggled, and she wondered why she wasn't happier for her brother and the woman that was to be his wife._

_Chloe, her gray eyes sparkling, linked arms with her father, ready to walk out onto the aisle, and the bridesmaids hurried out the door to follow the little flower girl up the aisle._

_The groom, Jose, stood at the altar, a grin on his face that had been there since this morning. Because __**their**__ day was here. _

_The bride followed them, slowly and elegantly, although her real desire was to run up and throw her __arms around her beloved and begin their lives together, yet she walked; ever so agonizingly slow it seemed to the groom._

_When at last she stood with him at the altar, all else was lost to them, and he smiled at her with a gentle smile, speaking of their love for each other in a language that didn't require words._

_Two years of dating had done nothing to kill their infatuation._

_Aviva sighed as the vows were exchanged, and looked around inside her memory. She noted the flowers they had used that day, and the haphazard bouquet that Eduardo, twelve years old then, and the baby of her family, had put on the altar. _

_She knew what happened next, and she wasn't sure she wanted to see it again, nor feel the deep, burdened feelings that came afterward. Yet, as the priest said the last, long awaited words, her head snapped back to where it had been on that day ten years ago. _

_"You may now kiss the bride."_

_Chloe and Jose smiled, a beaming joy pouring out of them that even Aviva could feel, and he lifted her veil. _

_Instead of kissing her right away, as many had suspected he would, he cupped her angular chin with his hands, and their eyes locked. It was as though an overwhelming amount of love and communication was being passed between the two, simply by looking at each other. Such love... They closed their eyes, and kissed, gently, yet passionately. _

_Aviva didn't move, although inside of herself she cried. She didn't want to look anymore, but she couldn't look away. _

_She was alone. Overwhelmingly and incredibly alone. One soul walking among the crowds, alone forever, but she couldn't grow to accept it. Why did this have to surface on __**their**__ special day? Was she that selfish?_

_No, she wasn't selfish. She was jealous._

* * *

She opened her eyes slowly, her pupils dilating to the soft lighting in the room. With a sigh, she sat up in the bed, throwing her soft, plush covers off and standing up. A thin nightgown, silky and mint green, hung to her knees, and she walked to her sliding doors. She didn't have a balcony. Not many people could afford it, and the building she lived in had run out of apartments with balconies. She didn't mind much, though. She had a pretty good view of the city-scape from her sliding glass doors looking into her lounge.

Now she remembered. Chloe had been on of the nicest of her sister-in-laws, and had made Jose one of the happiest people she knew, and more so when their first child, Chelsea had been born. She had yet to find a sweeter and happier family.

She stared out at the lights that shone brightly from the tall buildings, and wondered how Jose would deal with losing his wife. They had been so in love...

Reaching out, she slowly slid her door open, stepping out into the cold night, onto the rooftop road. Looking up at the light cloud cover, she noted that the city lights were reflecting off of it and back down at them, lighting her current surroundings as early dawn would. Her feet slowly stepped in puddles left by the deluge night before last and another this morning as she made her way to the short wall that protected somewhat against accidental falls. She rested her hands on it and stared out, looking for a certain building, a certain window.

The shortest building in her view sat widely on the city-scape, and she counted the floors.

"Twenty, nineteen, eighteen...fourteen...ten..." she found the floor and with it, the window, covered with orange Stick-On notes, lit up from behind with a desk lamp. She smiled softly, yet sadly. She wondered what Chelsea might be doing behind her window, lost in her own sea of confusing emotions. She was so young to have lost her mother.

Aviva's olive eyes, seeming to glow with the city lights reflecting in them, turned to the windows next to it, and wondered what the rest of her family was doing, clustered together on what was known as the Corcovado floor by the rest of the people in the building, despite the fact that there were many more families besides the Corcovados. She supposed that perhaps they were the biggest, and that was why it was unofficially named after them.

Her eyes turned to the sky, finding a sliver of opening in the cloud cover and smiling at it. Because of the valley they were situated in, the mountains channeled the storms towards them from over the lake way to the northwest of the city. Although, as she thought as she remembered the recent report from the scientists studying it, the lake was both large enough and salty enough to be considered a sea.

Her eyes wandered back to the window on the tenth floor, and she noted that the light had turned off. With a sigh, she turned away, pausing to let a large black car pass by on the rooftop road before heading inside her apartment.

* * *

Koki sighed, rubbing her temples frustratedly. The family that they were going to drive out on a tour had decided they wanted to have a picnic up there. Which was fine, until they set up and decided they wanted to go on a hike. Now, she and Jimmy had to pack up their stuff so that bears wouldn't raid them, while the family stood off to the side impatiently. It had ticked them off to be told what to do, and it had taken all of Koki's self-restraint to not lash out at them angrily.

Jimmy Z, though, hadn't complained at all. In fact, he was snitching little bits of food as he packed it into bear proof containers.

"Are you done?" called the woman.

Koki bit the inside of her cheek, glaring down at the sandwiches she was packing away.

"Almost, dude, er...I mean, uh, person! Dudette? Dudess? Duchess? Just a few more seconds!" Jimmy answered for her. She muttered a thank you before picking up the containers and tossing them into the back of the jeep.

"You okay, Koki?" Jimmy asked her, gently placing his containers in. She huffed slightly.

"Once I cool off," she mumbled to him as she turned to the family, forcing a smile at them, "Alright, let's get going on that hike. Follow us, and don't walk off the path."

Jimmy handed the two parents a black plastic remote shaped device hanging on bright red straps.

"These devices will give you any information on any thing you scan it with," Koki pointed the end at a nearby bush, and a blue light scanned it. After a second, the speaker on the remote sprung to life.

"Blueberry bush. They are usually erect, but sometimes prostrate shrubs varying in size from 10 centimeters (3.9 in) to 4 meters (13 ft) tall. In commercial blueberry production, smaller species are known as "lowbush blueberries" (synonymous with "wild"), and the larger species are known as "highbush blueberries".

The leaves can be either deciduous or evergreen, ovate to lanceolate, and 1–8 cm (0.39–3.1 in) long and 0.5–3.5 cm (0.20–1.4 in) broad. The flowers are bell-shaped, white, pale pink or red, sometimes-" (Blueberry – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

"And you push the red button to stop it," Koki flashed the remote in front of her to show them, "Now that that's out of the way, let's get going."

With that, she turned and marched past them, heading onto the cleared path. Jimmy hurried to catch up with her, and they fell into silence as the family behind them chattered amongst themselves.

"What's gotten into you today?" he raised an eyebrow curiously with a soft smile. Koki sighed, looking to the trees standing on either side of them, for once not noticing the little details of their surroundings.

She looked over her shoulder pointedly, referring to the family following them.

"Most of them are like that anymore. They think they know everything," she whispered, slowing down as one of the children stopped for climb on a small boulder excitedly.

"Well, considering that the only people who can afford to come out here are either filthy rich, or...well, even richer, that's sort of expected," he grinned playfully, and she elbowed him as a smile slowly found it's way onto her face.

"I guess I'm just getting a little frustrated at the same attitude, over and over," she confessed. He shrugged, brushing his red hair out of his eyes.

"Also expected."

"I just want some respect, for once, from the city people. No one seems to care about this out here."

"Maybe they're scared."

"Of what?"

He shrugged, his shoulders brushing against his long red hair, "I don't know. But...at least with you, people get all weird and stuff when they're scared of something that isn't a big, wild bear roaring at you."

She turned to look at him, slightly confused.

"_What?"_

He gave her a nervous smile, "All I meant was that, when what scares them is something like...um, let's say, um...change!"

"...Coins?"

Jimmy deadpanned for a second, then shook his head violently, "No, no, _change _change! Like when we moved to a new family when I was like, six? You started acting all weird with me, and I remember you saying that you were scared, right?"

Koki shook her head, smiling at him incredulously, "I'm not sure if you're remembering-"

"What I was trying to say is that people act different with different fears, like if it was a bear, you'd run screaming and so would this family, but if you're scared of change, then you act like all high headed and know-it-all and stuff," Jimmy shoved his hands deep into his pocket, bowing his head slightly as he wasn't sure how to continue without digging himself a deeper and more confusing hole. He wasn't the kind of person to deal with deep personal thoughts...or at least not the person to _project _them.

Koki, however, looked away, her brow furrowed lightly, as she thought over what he had said.

"I guess you're right," Jimmy looked up at her, relieved, "Except about the bear."

He cringed. Uh oh.

* * *

A toll booth.

A simple toll booth stood between her and the outside world.

Aviva stared at the gate to the outside world, surprised at the simple looking station as she drove up to it. A bored young man sat slumped in the chair in the booth, bouncing a basket ball off the wall as his black hair was ruffled by the back rest on the chair as he slumped further down into it.

"Please hand over your passport, permits, and driver's license," he droned, never taking his eyes off of the ball. She handed over the papers and with a sigh, he resignedly tucked the ball under his arm, grabbing the papers and scanning them into his computer. After a tense second for Aviva, he stamped something on her permit and her passport and tossed them back to her.

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him as he resumed bouncing his ball off the wall. The bar in front of her slowly raised up, and she gladly drove through, stopping just outside the booth.

With a disbelieving smile of shock, she opened her door and stepped out. In front of her, just a few yards away, stood the forest. Thick and dark, yet so much more colorful than the city, she stared at it. Tall and proud the trees stood, seeming as sentries to her, their branches lightly stirred by a light breeze, and harboring small birds that flitted from branch to branch, calling to each other with short, sweet twitters as she covered her mouth in awe. A small giggle escaped her mouth, and she slipped back into her car, reluctantly, to continue on down the road.

Never had she seen so many trees, so close together. There were parks in the city, but they were perfectly manicured parks that were tended to with pesticides and pruning shears, inhabited only by pigeons and a few dogs and cats that belonged to the caretakers. And perhaps a couple of shirking rats.

As she drove on the road splitting the forest in half, she watched the dense, wild forest fly by, and she felt a joy spread through her. A sense of satisfaction so strong and calming that she was surprised. Soon the park center crept up on the windshield, a small log building sitting widely on a section of the hill, with what seemed to be a watch tower built over it. She turned into the drive way, parking next to a bright pink limo. She chuckled as she stepped out, grabbing her backpack before walking into the center.

"Hello?" she called, straightening her yellow jacket. A glass window in the wooden wall revealed a small pond nearby and she grinned, excited.

"Be right there!" a voice called out, a woman's voice with an undertone that ground a little, and Aviva turned to see a small door in the corner of the entrance room, next to the reception desk.

Koki hurried out of the room she and Jimmy were setting up for the latest new comers, a tall tanned lady named something odd like Bonita Sonata, and another for her photographer, at the sound of a strong, yet girlish voice coming from the entrance. Opening the door and glancing towards the air conditioner to make sure it was cool enough, she stepped out to see a young woman peering into the reception desk, her thick brown ponytail hanging next to her dark skinned face.

"Hey, over here!" she smiled at the woman, who turned, surprised, and smiled back, white teeth splitting the pink lips.

"Hey!" Aviva glanced over the African-American woman in front of her, and was surprised to see the large Afro that she sported. With an appreciative smile, she thrust her hand forward.

"I'm Aviva Corcovado, journalist and head of the Varmitech Global magazine."

Koki chuckled, her freckled cheeks bunching up as she smiled, and took the woman's hand, "You're one of the few that actually introduces themselves. I'm Koki Banebridge, assistant director and tour guide here."

Aviva nodded, "Nice to meet you."

Koki turned towards the door, smiling to herself, "Nice to meet you too. Come on, let's get you settled in."

* * *

The water rippled around the reddish wooden paddle as it passed through the water, slowly propelling the small canoe forward. Muscles rippled as the paddle was pulled out and pushed into the water on the other side of the canoe, keeping the forward movement of the canoe from turning to the left. The man on the canoe kept the balance, tipping and moving to accommodate the soft waves moving toward him, pushing him back. The sun shone down on his bare back and arms, punishing him for some unknown ill, but the man smiled, singing the songs of old, in some forgotten native tongue, completely at peace with his surroundings.

He paddled past a village of sea houses, built on stilts to get somewhat further away from the water, although the people that lived there were almost a part of the water.

"_He's here!" _a child called out from the stairs that led from the porch on his house to the water, his call echoed through out the small village as he dove into the water to swim out towards the man.

Soon he was joined by his friends, children more at home in the water than on land, their hair cut short to drain the somewhat salty water faster. The young boy grabbed a hold of the side of the canoe.

"Hey!" the man smiled, and adjusted himself to accommodate the pull and balance the canoe, "How's it going bud?"

"Good! You have any more animal stories?" the gray eyes beamed up into the man's light blue ones.

"Aw, sorry, Ngaya, I can't. I'm on my way to the reef and my brother will kill me if I take longer than two days to get back."

"Aw," a collective sigh rose up from the children. The man grinned, and pulled a package wrapped in birch bark out of the canoe.

"Here! Maple sugar," the children gasped, and a girl swam forward and grabbed it, causing the other children to cry out.

"Dolkar!"

"Let us have it!"

With a laugh, the blonde girl swam off toward a nearby boat, running to find the nearest adult to hand out the sweet candy like treat, with the rest of the children on her tail.

The man grinned and continued on his way, singing again, his voice carrying over the blue expanse.

* * *

Miles away, past the shore and much further inland, another man slowly crept through the forest, his moccasin wrapped feet slowly stepping on the pine needles, not leaving a trace of his passage. His bow was slipped over his head, the bowstring tight against his bare chest and his leg occasionally brushing against the bottom tip of the bow as he walked. Over head, the dense forest blocked the view of the sky, and the man contemplated taking to the trees, but the sound of rustling nearby caused him to freeze, his every sense alert. The rustling continued and a small moose came into his view. A young cow.

He frowned, and continued on, ignoring the mosquitoes attacking him. He was immune to them anymore.

He turned and climbed into a tree, pulling off his moccasins and tying them to his breech clout. His feet gripped the branch and he slowly made his way through the forest through the thick upper canopy. After a few more minutes, he grinned.

A large moose, well past his prime was feeding in the stream, and the man's brown eyes quickly calculated his target. While the older males' meat was tougher and wiry, the moose population was experiencing a slight dip, and a more careful choosing of perhaps less appealing quarry was called for by the leading hunters in the area, and he, despite being a traveler and not of the area, respected the decision. Besides, if he wanted to see moose in the future, it required letting the right moose live today.

Crouching on the thick branch, he carefully pulled off his bow, notching an arrow into place, waiting for the bull to bend his head again to feed. Pulling back he aimed, and nearly released the arrow, but caught it at the last second with a gasp. The fumbling to grab the back of the arrow cost him his balance and with a cry he fell off his perch. The moose wearily lifted his head to look at him, raising an eyebrow in curiosity, or perhaps reproach. What respectable man fell out of a tree?

The man sighed and waved his bow in the air.

"Sorry, thought you were a wild one," he stood up and brushed himself off, glancing at a small scrape on his shoulder. The moose huffed and continued feeding, turning away from the man and showing the large mark on his flank, showing his ownership to be that of a nearby group of people. The man harrumphed at him, slipping his bow back on and continuing on his way, wishing he and his brother had something to trade for a domesticated moose, instead of hunting the wild ones.

* * *

The man now stopped rowing, leaning over the edge of the boat and judging the distance down under water. He breathed in slowly as he stopped singing and he slipped on a pair of handmade wooden goggles fitted with lenses cut out of a clear plastic container he had found. His breathing slowed, and he concentrated on each breath, slowing his heartbeat as he entered a trance like state. He slowly grasped the borrowed harpoon gun as he leaned over the edge of the canoe, taking one final breath as he plunged in.

Calm and collected, he turned, swimming down towards the bottom, feeling his chest being pressed in slowly and his abdomen being squeezed lightly. He swam further into the blue waters, seeing the ocean floor slowly near him and he reached down with one foot. Although he hardly realized it, the pressure of the water had already squeezed his lungs to one third of their usual volume. He counted his slow heartbeats from the moment he had submerged himself.

_Sixty-three._

_Two minutes._

He stepped on the sandy floor, stirring up a small cloud of the yellowish sand as he reached forward with his other foot, trying hard not to be blown over by a soft water current moving past him, and he walked along the bottom, fighting the water trying to sweep him away.

Even without weights, he managed to walk along, without giving into the buoyancy that the water gave him.

He felt an almost irresistible urge to gasp for air, but he moved on. He walked past a swarm of shining silver fish that dashed way from him, although they knew that a hunter down here wouldn't be looking for them. They were too small to be hunted with harpoon guns.

He walked along, noting with a salty smile that a lot of the fish populations were booming, meaning that the nearby village's hunting wasn't affecting the fish. He walked on, watching for the fish he had come for.

His feet scraped against the rocks on the bottom, gripping with his toes to stay put. His one arm flailed out, propelling him slowly forward. Slowly, he made his way among the fish, and he finally found his quarry; a medium sized grouper fish. It slowly made it's way through the budding coral reef, looking around somberly with his flat, bulging eyes.

The man frowned slightly, but raised the harpoon gun, fashioned to release a strip of tightly stretched material attached to the harpoon, in similar fashion to a crossbow. Taking aim, he pulled the trigger, releasing the strip which shot the harpoon forward and relaxed from it's former tensed position. The harpoon traveled fast, and the fish didn't even feel it's demise, something the man was grateful for. Swimming forward and giving into the water, he grasped the end of the harpoon and pulled it up, setting the fish afloat.

_Eighty-five._

_About two and a half minutes._

Turning, he swum upwards, pulling the fish, and making sure he hadn't forgotten the harpoon gun like last time, and he gasped as he broke the surface. Taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way to his boat, lifting the fish and laying it inside the boat, then climbed into it himself. The crystalline water rolled off of his back and arms like miniature waves and he settled himself into his boat, ready for the long hours of rowing back to the shore.

* * *

His dark skin blended into the shadows of the forest, and he walked quietly, leaving little trace of his passage. His bow was once again slipped over his head, resting mostly on his shoulder as he walked, following tracks left by a herd of elk.

He sighed, missing his normal companion and his talkative ways, but enjoying the day away from his pranks and constant jokes. Although he could admit to committing a great half of the pranks and jokes himself.

As his thoughts wandered, his feet continued on the path of the elk, and he nearly walked straight into a pack of feeding wolves. He, hearing a loud snarl, was jolted out of his thoughts, and froze, staring straight at a smaller group of the pack circling around a young elk calf, who cried desperately for it's mother, whom, he assumed, was the one that the pack had taken down. With an answering snarl of his own, he smacked a nearby wolf with the tip of his bow, standing in front of the frightened calf. The wolf, turned from the calf to him, giving him first a shocked expression, then an annoyed glare before sauntering off to the rest of the pack, followed by the other two wolves. Wolves had no quarrel with humans, as long as they had plenty of food and could run free in their wild habitat, so she let it slip.

The brown haired man relaxed, and knelt down next to the calf, who despite knowing that humans were natural predators, quickly accepted him as a temporary substitute for it's mother's comfort, which the man knew was an odd quirk both he and his normal companion bore. Wild animals often accepted them quickly into their safety zone. The man stroked her narrow, delicate jaw reassuringly, watching her large oval ears twitch in agitation as her large dark brown eyes flew around desperately. He sighed, smiling at her gently.

"Now what do I do with you? Hmm?" he gently scratched her chest and she huddled closely to his frame. He pulled up slightly, bending down to keep his arms around her, and walked them both away from the carcass and the feeding wolves, further from her source of distress.

Thinking back to the moose he had seen, maybe he could take her to the herders. He was certain they had an elk herd, and they would probably be able to set this orphan up with a surrogate mother.

"Well, come with me, girl. I think I might have the solution to both of our problems," he patted her soft tan head gently and stood up, herding her in the direction he was walking.

* * *

**Responses to reviews!:**

_**Waterfall13: Chap. 1 **_**Lol, close, but the Kratts do exist in this AU. Just in a different way.**

_**Guest 1: Chap. 1 **_**Donita meant that Aviva should use green to make her eye color stand out more.**

_**Guest 2: Chap. 1 **_**Yes! Aviva meets Chris in this story! ^^ It's actually a very huge plot point we have planned, so don't worry!**

_**Number 1 fan: Chap. 1 **_**Haha, don't worry about us writing more, this is one of our favorite stories yet! _Reviiiiieeeeeewwwwww! XD_**

**_ChrisKrattizcool: _Thanks! Well, keep an eye out for them, they'll be appearing soon!**

_**deep fathom: Chap. 2 **_**Thank you! And yeah, they will! Eventually... ^^ **

_**Peachstar Kratt: Chap. 1-2 **_**Lol, well, we've taken to writing with the music, it helps get the flow right...although sometimes it's hard finding music to fit the theme you're trying to write, lol! Congrats on your epic skills, hope to see more of them on the fandom!**

_**El Zorro: **_**First off...I tip my hat to your name. Epic. Lol. Second, we see that a lot of people are worried that this won't have Chris or Martin! o.o' 'XD Don't worry, this story wouldn't be in the WK fandom if it didn't have the Kratts! That would be...just...sorta...I don't know, wrong? Er...**

_**SilverWaterBombadil: **_**Always meant to ask you about your name...Anyway, Thanks! ^^ Here's the update!**

**So...what did you think? Sorry for being absent, our internet has pretty much died. We live in somewhat of a black hole. -_- But every now and then the internet comes through and we try to get on and reply and stuff. Also, our writing has been churning out a little slower as well. Although we're both immensly proud at both the speed and quality that we produced this chapter. *mumbles* Even if sis here won't admit it. XD Anyway, TTFN, and review please! ^^**


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